Having Faith
by Links6
Summary: After Dylan's death, Dean heads off the town's bar and meets a stranger...Tag to Episode 5 x 17


Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or any of its characters...

A/N: Just a little thought that struck me while watching 99 Problems...

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"…. You're Dean Winchester, right?"

~"Hmm"

"I heard about you from Father - at church"

~"_Heh, everybody in this damned town is religious_"

"Only recently religious"

The young woman sits down next to him and orders J&B on the rocks. The bartender checks her ID before conceding. She notices his untrusting gaze, but she knows noone in the town would protest. Not when the 'Judgement Day' is looming. She also says nothing when the hunter next to her instinctively reaches inside his jacket. She figures he has a vile of holy water on hand. She can't blame him, not when things are in such a chaotic state.

"It's actually a bit strange, one day we have only the Reverend's and the Todd family in church… the next…. The whole town is singing hymns by heart," she laughs before continuing, "I'm with Paul though, wouldn't it make more sense to die honest than try and act innocent?"

"…_So, _you're not into the Big Man upstairs?"

"I am…but as you might guess, having a reputation will ruin _church-going _for anyone"

He doesn't ask, but it seems she has found it her mission in life to inform him of her life, "Let me put it this way, when you're the only moron at a party who doesn't know that the punch is spiked… yeah…". Her explanation stops short, but the silence answers in full detail. He inwardly cringes at the fact that he never had to deal with _any type_ of reputation. He never had to… he was never long enough in a place to form one. "But, I'm running my own business now… it's small… but I think we do okay"

When the man next to her doesn't ask the usual 'so what _do _you do', she answers the unspoken question anyway, "I'm a florist… business has picked up since…. A few months ago, so it's been going better since when I started… unfortunately, my business is the one that ends up making the wraiths these days".

"Well, things can go to hell pretty quickly, lady," Dean mutters, emptying half his keg with one gulp.

"I know"

He glances at her, eyes narrowed and his lips drawn into a thin line. He wonders absently if she didn't have hunters for family as well.

"But, it's all a blessing, you know? We have a heads-up on the End of Days, so we have time to reunite with family and … you know… go skydiving or whatever" she says and laughs after she finishes off her glass of whiskey. "…. I'm not going to though…"

"What?"

"Go skydiving… or shark wrestling or… all that. It's stupid, it's not something I would've done otherwise," she says and hands the bartender two bills from her purse, "I don't think you should change your choices or lifestyle just because the world is about to end".

Dean almost chokes on his drink. He wonders if she had eavesdropped on his and Sam's conversation. He wonders if she was maybe one of the prophets Castiel knows of or if she's a psychic.

"I'm not going to close my business now and just drop off the radar and live like a hermit," she continues and turns to face him "if I did… I wouldn't be who I am".

He thinks for a minute about her words. His own dark thoughts had been twisting him to ignorance and had him becoming flippant of his responsibilities. "Heh… it would be easy if you didn't have responsibilities".

"It would…. But, what fun would that be? Besides, everybody has responsibilities… think about it, even children do. They always strive to make their parents happy, no matter how off-track they go… they never want to disappoint… and that's their responsibility, or at least, it feels that way to them," she says and rubs her forehead absently, "If you want to carry the world on your shoulders… you'll end up doing just so… just by taking on that responsibility".

The hunter orders another beer and stuffs his mouth full of tasteless peanuts to stop him from arguing. She smiles.

"Same with religion. If you think about it, you can blame _everything _on the Creator _or,_" she points with her thumb to ground, "the other guy…. ".

He doesn't dare open his mouth.

"If all things didn't come to an end… we wouldn't appreciate what we have right now. If we knew someone was about to die, or that your child is about to be taken away…and there is no way to stop it… you would appreciate them more, you would be more forgiving and generous," she stops for a moment and yawns, "And you'd definitely eat more M&M's".

He wonders is the last bit had been to make a point or just to lighten the mood.

"Oh…geez, I'm talking your ears off! Here," she quickly apologizes and covers the tab Dean's been running up since he entered. "Thanks for listening…. It just feels weird, I feel like I can talk to you…. you remind me of Dylan, he was my brother".

Dean nods numbly and shoves a handful of peanuts to rid himself of the nauseous feeling that's working its way up. He closes his eyes.

She tilts her head, "I guess... what I'm saying is, it's easy to have religion..." she says and smiles before continuing, "but, it's hard to have faith".

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Thanks for reading :D Please leave a review or drop me a message if you liked it!


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